Potato-digger.



A. 'LAURITZEN &' J. F. NIELSEN.

POTATO BIGGER. APPLICATION rILnn JULY 27, 1910.

- Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Attdrneys A. LAURITZEN & J. I. NIELSEN.

' v POTATO BIGGER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 27, 1 910.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

12562 2 542722 4 fifi/z ,Zelrzzz, '2

' UNITED STATESPATENT canton.

MICHIGAN.

POTATO-BIGGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 9, 1912 Application filed iuly 27, 1916. Serial No.574,123.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, ALBERT LAURITZEN andJOHN FRED NIELSE citizens of the United States, residing, respectively,at Charlotte and Greenville, in the counties of Eaton and Montcalm,State of Michigan,

have-invented a new' and useful Potato- Digger, of which the followingis a specifirotating members to move away from each other when theyencounter large stones and other irresistible objects so that the saidobjects may pass through between the memported at its rear end upongudgeons 3 carbers without injuring the same.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a top plan view of the potatodigger. Fig, 2 is aside elevation of the same one of the supportingwheels removed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one form of. rotary memberadapted to be used in the grid. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of amodifiedform of rotary member adapted to be used in the grid. Fig. 5 isan end view of a sleeve used upon the diggen.

The potato digger. includes a: frame 1 which is mounted at its forwardend upon a wheel-supported truck 2 and which is supried by an archedcross piece 4. Bars 5 are secured at their forward ends to the forwardportions of the frame 1 and the rear end portions of the said barsextend back over' the intermediate portion of the arched cross piece 4and carry a seat 6. Traction wheels 7 are journaled upon the gudgeons 3and carry spur gears 8. The arched cross piece .4. is provided at itsends with rearwardly disposed arms 9 in which a shaft 10 is journaled.Pinions 11 are fixed to the ends of the shaft 10 and mesh with the spurgears 8.

the inner end portions of the arms 13 and the said share is.downwardlyinclined with relation to the trunk 12. Colter blades 15 are mountedupon the arms'13 adjacent the 'side edges of the share 14; and may serveas means for cutting roots at the edgesof a row of potatoes. Guideplates 16 are mount ed upon .the upper edges of the forward portions ofthe sides of the trunk 12 and are adjustably connected at their forwardends by means of bolt and slot connections 17 with the rear'portions ofthe colters 15 Arms 18 are attached to thesidesof the ALBERT LAURITZEN,01' CHARLOTTE, AND JOHN FRED NIELSEN, OF GREENVILLE,

forward portion of the trunk 12 and are pivotally connected at theirforward ends with links 19 whichin turn are pivotal1y connected at theirforward ends with the frame 1. A lever 20 is fulcrumedupon the bars 5.and its working end is operatively connected with the forward ends ofthe arms 18by means of a link 21. Therefore it will be seen that byswinging the lever 20 the forward end portion of the trunk 12 and its,arch 4 may be swung upon the gudgeons 3 and the arms 9 may be raised orlowered and thus means are provided for raising or lowcring the rearportion of the trunk 12. Plates 24 are secured to the inner surfaces andat the rear ends of sides of the trunk 12 and are provided with inwardlyand downwardly inclined spaced fingers 25.

Aseries of shafts 26 are journaled for ro- A tation at their endportions in the sides of the trunk 12 and a sprocket wheel 27 is mountedupon each shaft 26. Endless sprocket chains 28 pass around the sprocket1 wheels 27 of the adjacent shafts 26 and 10. The sprocket chains 28 arearranged in staggered relation at the opposite sides of the trunk 12that is to say a sprocket chain 28 at one side of the trunk 12 whichoperatively connects two adjacent sprocket wheels 27 is in a directiontransversely of the trunk opposite the disconnected sprocket wheels 27at the opposite side of the trunk and vice versa.

A series of rotating disks or members 29- are mounted upon each shaft 26and also upon the shaft 10. The intermediate pordisks are provided withtions of the shafts 10 and 26 are non-circular.

and, the said disks are provided with circular. openin s which receivethe intermediate portions 0 the shafts whereby the said disks areslidably mounted upon the shafts and may also remain at rest while theshafts rotate. The terminal disks of each series are spaced from thesides of the trunk 12 by means of collars 30 fixed upon the shafts andthe disks are spaced from each other. by sleeves 31 which havenon-circular openings which snugly receive the intermediate noncircularportions of the shafts 26 and 10. At points intermediate the ends of theshafts 10 and 26, the adjacent disks 29 are held apart by means ofcoiled springs 32 which surround the shafts and hear at their oppositeends against the adjacentdisks. he object of this structure will beexplained hereinafter. The disk 29 may be in the form as illustrated inFig. 3 wherein the said eripheral serrations 33 or the disks may e inthe form as illustrated-inFig. 4 wherein they are provided'withtangentially disposed fingers 34.

As the machine is drawn along a row of potatoes the vines and roots arecut in the manner as indicated and the digging share "14 passes underthe potatoes and elevates ,the same together with the top soil upon the.rotatin disks 29. Theupper portions 'of the sai disks are. turning inthe direction opposite to that in which the machine is traveling andconsequently the potatoes are elevated along the trunk 12 and at thesame time are agitated and the soil is shaken and sifted from the same.Should a stone or other irresistible object be carried up with thepotatoes, and deposited upon the edges of the disks 29 the said diskswhich bear the weight of the stone may move laterally along theirrespective shafts against the ,tension of the springs 32 and thusadditional space will. be made through which the stone may 'pass withoutinjuring the disks,

ently hold the said disks in which might occur if the disks were rigidlymounted. Therefore, should a small stone become lodged between thedisks, thepositivel driven collars would eject them without amage to anyportions along the ma-.

chine. When the potatoes, pass over the .disks 29 carried by the shaft10 those potatoes in the vicinity of the sides of the trunk 12 encounterthe fingers 25 of the plates 24 and are directed toward the surface ofthe ground in a line approximately between the sides'of the trunk 12. e

Having described the invention what is claimed 1s:

1.' In a potato digger a trunk, a shaft j ournaled for rotation in thetrunk and hayseries of disks mounted upon the non-circu-- la r portionof the shaft and being free to slide thereon, means for spacing the saiddisksfrom each other, and a resilient'means located between theintermediate disks of the series for resiliently holding the said disksin frictional engagement with the spacing means.

ALBERT LAURITZEN. JOHN FRED NIELSEN. Witnesses-z f J.'C. SMITH,

WM H. Bnowma. i

mg a non-circular intermediate portion, a

